Seymour falls to Jefferson County

The Seymour Eagles came out on the short side of a 45-28 score against the visiting Jefferson County Patriots on Friday.

Early mistakes went in favor of the Eagles, who scored five first quarter points off of two fumbles by the Patriots. The first three came on a JJ Jerman field goal after Jefferson County fumbled the ball away at their own 24-yard line.

The safety came on the Patriots’ third possession after a nice punt by the Eagles pinned them back on their own two. The quarterback mishandled the snap and had to fall on the loose ball in the end zone.

But the rest of the first half belonged to Jefferson County as tailback Darius Jones tore up the field for two touchdowns in the first half, including an 84-yard run that finally put the Patriots on the board. By halftime, the score was 21-5.

The second half was a continuation of the first as the Seymour offense went three and out. Jones then took the Patriots 64 yards down the field in one play to make the score 28-5.

A Seymour fumble on the next possession, combined with a penalty against the Eagles a few plays later set the Patriots up for their fifth touchdown of the night, and a comfortable 35-5 lead.

With half of the third quarter left, the Eagle offense found a rhythm. Devin Davenport ripped an 11-yard run, and Tanner Sise followed up with three runs for 24 yards. A Nick Sexton to Blaise Rooney connection gave the Eagles a first down at the Patriot 15, and Sise added 11 more yards to his rushing total to give Seymour a first-and-goal.

On third down, Sexton found Braxton Dockery in the back of the end zone for Seymour’s first offensive score of the evening. Sexton followed up with a pass to Rooney for the two-point conversion.

After holding the Patriots to a field goal, the Seymour offense scored quickly on a Sexton strike to Dockery, who took it 75 yards for the score. Sexton ran in the two-point conversion, and midway through the fourth quarter, the Eagles had trimmed the lead to 17.

Then Jones returned to the field, and with one 80-yard play, put the game out of reach.

The Eagles scored on their final possession, as Sise ran it in from 29 yards out, making the final score 45-28.

The penalties came in bunches. At one point, Jefferson County was penalized for holding three times in four plays. And several times, Seymour extended Jefferson County drives by jumping offsides.

Still, after the game, Coach Jim Moore found some positives in the game.

“They never quit,” he said. “They kept scrapping. In the first half, our defense played well but our offense … all it takes is one thing to go wrong. Then in the second half, when our offense finally started to do what we knew they could do, our defense was worn down, and having trouble matching up.”

The Eagles are off next week, and will be working to find consistent play on both sides of the ball.